1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to a technique for evoking in a subject generalized emotional states which are each expressed in tactile terms in the course of a sentic cycle and give rise to an emotional release having beneficial effects, and more particularly to a sentic cycler unit for carrying out this technique, the unit including a programmed microprocessor associated with a solid-state memory in which a set of words representing different emotions are digitally stored and are sequentially reproduced in accordance with the program.
2. Status of Prior Art
A concern of the present invention is with the relief of stress and the dissipation of anxiety by affording a subject with a natural means for emotional expression without the need for acquiring specific skills to attain this end. The utility of the invention is not limited to distressed subjects, for it may be used to enhance the mental state of normal subjects. A study of human emotions from the biocybernetic standpoint may be found in the text, "Biomedical Engineering Systems," edited by Clynes and Milsum (McGraw-Hill--1970).
In studies reported in the above-identified text, the difficulties of measuring emotional characteristics quantitatively were overcome by normalizing expressions of emotion through measurement of touch-pressure transients in two dimensions produced by one finger of the subject, and by using internally-generated fantasized emotions. By requiring repetitive expressive acts for each emotion and averaging these acts on a computer, one derives from the transient pattern created by finger pressure, the expressive shape for the emotion generated through repetitive expressions.
The use of a single finger to produce an expressive shape assumes the existence of a basic brain program for the expression of a given emotion. It is, however, immaterial whether a finger, foot or other body part is used in the expression. The consistent results obtained with this measurement technique confirms this supposition.
My prior patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,755,922 (1973) discloses a system for producing a set of personalized sentograms constituting a personality relationship profile of a subject being diagnosed. This system includes a programmer in the form of a standard magnetic tape cassette player adapted to present to the subject a predetermined sequence of names, each identifying an individual with whom the subject has a close relationship or about whom the subject has distinct feelings. After a name is presented, the subject is commanded by a signal to express his feeling about the named individual by pressing with his finger a finger rest on a pressure-sensitive transducer to produce a transient wave form whose shape reflects this feeling. The shapes initiated by a series of command signals are averaged to created a personalized sentogram. The set of sentograms resulting from the sequence of names provides a personality relationship profile of the subject useful in diagnosis and prognosis. The present invention does not seek to provide sentograms but serves to employ the tactile expression of emotions for beneficial purposes. By evoking repetitive expressive acts for each emotion and averaging these acts on a computer, one derives from the transient pattern created by finger pressure, the expressive shape for the emotion.
The use of a single finger to produce an expressive shape assumes the existence of a basic brain program for the expression of a given emotion. It is, however, immaterial whether a finger, foot or other body part is used in the expression. The consistent results obtained with this measurement technique confirms this supposition.
My prior patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,755,922 (1973) discloses a system for producing a set of personalized sentograms constituting a personality relationship profile of a subject being diagnosed. This system includes a programmer in the form of a standard magnetic tape cassette player adapted to present to the subject a predetermined sequence of names, each identifying an individual with whom the subject has a close relationship or about whom the subject has distinct feelings. After a name is presented, the subject is commanded by a signal to express his feeling about the named individual by pressing with his finger a finger rest on a pressure-sensitive transducer to produce a transient wave form whose shape reflects this feeling. The shapes initiated by a series of command signals are averaged to created a personalized sentogram. The set of sentograms resulting from the sequence of names provides a personality relationship profile of the subject useful in diagnosis and prognosis. The present invention does not seek to provide sentograms but serves to employ the tactile expression of emotions for beneficial purposes.
Hence of greater relevance is my prior patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,652 (1972), where in order to enhance the ability of a subject to express emotions freely and to overcome his inhibitive and repressive tendencies, a system is provided for generating generalized emotional states by way of repeated random signal initiations and expressive touch. The subject goes through a programmed sequence of generalized states of emotion in the course of a sentic cycle whose duration is, say, 30 minutes. Such sentic cycles have been found to have a calming effect on the subject and to result in a lessening of stress and anxiety.
A more detailed analysis of sentic cycles is found in chapter 5 of the text "Emotion and Psychopathology," edited by M. Clynes and J. Panksepp, Plenum Press, New York 1988, this chapter being headed "Generalized Emotion, How It is Produced and Sentic Cycle Therapy." Appendix A in this chapter gives "Timings for The Start of Expressions for Sentic Cycles (soft clicks)."
As in my '922 patent, in the system disclosed in my '652 patent, the subject is called upon to express the quality of a sentic state given in a word approximation, such as love, hate, anger, grief, sex and reverence. This state is physically expressed by pressing a finger rest actuating a pressure-sensitive transducer whose output is converted to a sentic expressive transient shape exhibited on a TV screen or other visual indicator. In both of my patents, in order to present in sequence the words representing the emotions, each of which is followed by a command signal, use is made of a conventional magnetic tape cassette player.
The system disclosed in my prior '652 patent is relatively elaborate and costly, and by no means portable. Hence the subject, in order to obtain the benefit of the system, must attend a facility having the necessary equipment. This rules out the use by the subject of the system at home or at whatever other site suits his convenience and needs.
Inasmuch as a sentic cycler unit in accordance with the invention makes use of a microelectronic system having a solid-state memory to store the words and signals necessary for a sentic cycle, the following prior art patents are of background interest.
The Shirf et al. patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,803,535 and the DeSmet patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,974 both disclose solid-state devices in which words and sound effects are digitally stored in a read-only memory chip or ROM. A ROM is a non-volatile memory which once its discrete storage sites are loaded, the data stays therein even if the power is shut off. In order to load the ROM, spoken words and sound effects are first recorded to produce an audio waveform which is then sampled at a high sampling rate. Each sample is then digitized and stored as a binary value in a ROM site. Then in order to extract the stored sounds from the ROM and reconstruct the audio waveform, the stored digital values are read out from the ROM and fed in sequence as input signals to a digital-to-analog converter.
Message extraction from a ROM is effected by a start-of-message signal applied to an electronic clock which then generates a train of periodic clock pulses that are applied to a counter that causes the memory sites in the ROM where the digitized samples of the message are stored, to be read out in sequence. The digitized sample signals yielded by the ROM are fed to a D-to-A converter whose output is a stepped analog waveform. This is applied to a low-pass filter to smooth out the transitions in the stepped wave to produce an audio signal resembling the original audio signal. This audio signal is amplified and reproduced so that it can be heard by the user.
Also of background interest are the following publications:
Methodology in Sentographic Measurement of Motor Expression of Emotion: Two-Dimensional Freedom of Gesture Essential" by Clynes in Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1989, 68 779-183.
"Inherent Cognitive Substrates of Specific Emotions: Love is Blocked by Lying but Not Anger," by Clynes and Ryan in Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1990, 70 195-206.
"Some Guidelines for the Synthesis and Testing of by Clynes in Music Perception, Summer 1990, Vol. 7, No. 4, 403-422.